


Equinox

by DameRuth



Series: Flowers [17]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, When relationships collide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24756553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DameRuth/pseuds/DameRuth
Summary: The equinox is a time of temporary balance: between light and dark, and, in this instance, two individuals at opposite poles of Jack's life.Continuing the Teaspoon imports, originally posted 2008.03.27.]
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness
Series: Flowers [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/14017
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	Equinox

**Author's Note:**

> Set in my AU "Flowers!verse," continuing the holiday-themed sub-sequence begun in ["Mistletoe"](http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=18089). Some slight references to earlier stories, particularly ["Glass Houses"](http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=16202) but should be readable even if you haven't followed earlier installments.
> 
> * * *

It was a stupid way to die. The current Weevil outbreak was so bad Ianto had ended up chasing one down the back alleys of Cardiff without backup; everyone else was busy with Weevils of their own. He’d _thought_ he'd known where he was, but he must have got turned around in the dark and the chaos, because the alleyway he expected to open out onto a disused side street instead ended in a solid brick wall. Ianto whipped around a turn to find himself facing a cornered Weevil a mere twenty feet away.  
  
The Weevil did what any trapped thing will do, and launched an attack. Ianto couldn't blame it. The fault was his, this time.  
  
Deterrent spray wouldn't be enough to slow such a concentrated charge. Ianto backpedaled, fishing inside his jacket for his gun; it was down to killing or being killed. His foot caught a crack in the pavement and just like that, he was lying on the ground looking up into the snarling face of his own death.  
  
It was happening too fast for him to be scared, even. _Jack'll have my guts for garters,_ was his rueful thought, _assuming there are any guts left . . ._  
  
Then the world exploded in blue light and a horrific, buzzing noise.  
  
Ianto, shocked into pure spinal reflex, clapped his hands to his ears and yelled -- but even so, and even over that awful whining buzz, he could still hear the Weevil screaming.  
  
The all-encompassing noise suddenly stopped, leaving a ringing silence interrupted only by the drip of water (spring in Cardiff was guaranteed to be wet), and the pained whimpering of the Weevil, which lay curled in a tight, fetal ball on the pavement.  
  
The blue light remained.  
  
Instinct kicked in and Ianto lurched to his feet, getting into a less vulnerable position. Adrenaline was roaring through his bloodstream now. He had no idea what was going on, and the fall and the buzzing noise had left him disoriented. He overbalanced and started to fall again, but was caught from behind by a gentle, steel-strong grip on his arm.  
  
"Whups!" said a cheerful voice, and Ianto found himself lifted, straightened, and turned around to face a grinning man in a brown pinstripe suit.  
  
"Hallo again, Ianto Jones," said the Doctor, teeth flashing in the blue light. He seemed perfectly relaxed and genuinely happy to see Ianto again, as if their first meeting hadn't been at gunpoint. Stunned, Ianto stared into dark eyes on a level with his own. That gaze was focused, alert, friendly, even warm, but there was something fundamentally alien about it that gave him the shivers. The illusion of humanity was so nearly perfect -- but still an illusion.  
  
"Sorry about that. I wasn't _quite_ sure of the frequency to use, so I had to go for a broad spectrum, and you got caught in the edge of it," the Doctor continued blithely, waving a grand, dismissive gesture. The blue light ducked and bobbed, sending shadows careening in all directions through the dim alleyway. The light source was some sort of device held in one of the Doctor's hands; his other hand still grasped Ianto's upper arm. Ianto realized the Doctor must have caught and righted him one-handed, and done it as easily as if he weighed next to nothing.  
  
Ianto, still a little dazed, thought back to some of the minor injuries Jack sometimes sported after nights spent “alone” in the Hub: five dark bruises -- four-and-one -- on his upper thigh, placed exactly in the pattern of a long-fingered handgrip; a string of sore spots chaining down the length of his ribcage; a mysteriously stiff shoulder joint . . .  
  
 _And they’re_ lovers. _  
  
I think I'm lucky he's not the jealous type._  
  
The Doctor was still burbling along. "I stopped by to wish your Captain a happy Equinox -- that's a fairly major holiday in some times and places, you know. Here and now, it gets a quick note in the newspaper, if that. But. As I was saying, I nipped in and found Jack otherwise occupied tonight; he was handling it all well enough, so far be it from me to step in and cramp his inimitable style.” The Doctor winked, and Ianto couldn't help but smile faintly at the sly, knowing tone of his voice. Jack did inspire that sort of comment,  
  
"I was about to duck out and leave him to it when I spotted the two of you," the Doctor continued, nodding his head to indicate the Weevil, "and figured I'd follow along to see if you needed any help. A good thing I did, too." He stopped, abruptly, and cocked his head at Ianto, grinning over his own cleverness.  
  
Realizing a response was expected, Ianto cleared his throat and managed a mumbled, "I, uh . . . thank you."  
  
"Not a problem," the Doctor told him happily. He released his grip on Ianto's arm and give his shoulder a light, friendly pat. "Consider it an Equinox gift."  
  
 _This is the other half of Jack's life,_ Ianto thought, struggling not to be pulled under by the sheer weight of the Doctor's personality. He'd almost managed to convince himself that he was misremembering the force of it during their last meeting, but memory hadn't exaggerated. It was incredibly difficult not to like the Doctor, to trust him, to believe him. To believe _in_ him.  
  
It would have put Ianto in mind of his gran's stories about the Fair Folk and their glamours if he didn't know better. But he'd met the Fae in person and no matter how strange and terrifying they were, they'd been fundamentally . . . _familiar_ , born of the Earth just as humans were. They belonged here. The Doctor didn't. He carried the same whisper of otherworldly strangeness as the Weevils.  
  
Only someone as ridiculously self-confident as Jack could look at this alien Power and see bedroom material. Not to mention it would probably take someone as supernaturally attractive as Jack to make that impulse a reality. And yet . . . when push came to shove, Jack had chosen Ianto and Cardiff, rather than this man and the rest of the Universe. Something (and Ianto couldn’t imagine what) had tipped the balance in his favor  
  
A low growl broke the spell of the Doctor's rapid-fire chatter and mesmerizing gaze, reminding Ianto of the third member of their little group. He looked over his shoulder, and saw the Weevil beginning to uncurl from its defensive ball. Its bright, mad eyes were locked on Ianto and the Doctor with even more than usual malice.  
  
He turned back to the Doctor, drawing breath to tell him to start running -- distance was their best bet at this point -- but the Doctor was already looking past him at the Weevil. Even as Ianto watched, all the cheery warmth faded from the Doctor's features. What was left was cold and hard and black as iron.  
  
Without so much as glancing at Ianto, the Doctor gently shifted him aside, and strode toward the Weevil. The Weevil, still on all fours, tensed to spring at him. Ianto shifted his weight in preparation for tackling the Doctor (some part of his brain was thinking that if they hit the ground at the right time, the Weevil might pass right over them), but then the Weevil met the Doctor’s gaze. It flinched back as if struck. As if driving home a point, the Doctor raised his blue-glowing hand and the Weevil crouched down, hiding its face against the pavement and emitting an eerie, submissive moan.  
  
“I’d suggest you get back to the rest of your team,” the Doctor told Ianto, in a conversational tone of voice, half turning his head. The chill hardness in his features softened slightly. “I can take care of this poor lost soul. And Jack could no doubt use your able help.”  
  
Coming from anyone else, that last might have sounded more than a trifle catty, but the Doctor’s tone was completely free of sarcasm.  
  
Ianto hesitated. It wasn’t good to leave someone alone with a Weevil. They were fast and crafty — and the Doctor _had_ just saved his life. “I . . .” he started.  
  
The Weevil raised its head and snarled at him, reminded of his presence, but it hid its face again as the Doctor raised the blue light a trifle higher.  
  
“Go, now!” the Doctor told him, sharply, baring his teeth in frustration. “Before our friend here decides to find out if I’m as scary as he thinks. I can’t control him with you around.” Then a sharp grin, bright, fierce and ironic. “I’ll catch up with Jack later. Give him my best — or not, as you see fit.” The grin vanished, and the Doctor looked strained, as if some tight control was beginning to crack and fray. “ _Quickly!_ ”  
  
Ianto didn’t stay to argue. He was around the corner even before he realized he’d begun moving. Behind him, he could hear the Doctor beginning to speak in a gentle, reassuring voice, weaving a new type of glamour. The words weren’t English, but somehow Ianto understood them anyway.  
  
 _”Calm, my friend, there’s nothing to fear . . .”_  
  
Ianto turned another corner, reaching the street, and Jack’s voice rang out in his headset, loudly enough to make him jerk with surprise in mid-stride.  
  
 _”Ianto! Where the hell are you? Are you all right?”_  
  
Ianto tapped his headset. “Yes, I’m fine,” he said, “that Weevil I was chasing is taken care of.” Which was true enough. He could give a more detailed account later.  
  
 _”Well, we could sure use your help on this end — we’re up to our asses in Weevils. Get over here, pronto!”_ Jack rattled off a location. Ianto caught his bearings and began to jog in that direction.  
  
“On my way,” he replied. “Oh, and Happy Equinox.”  
  
 _”What?”_ Jack responded, sounding genuinely dumbfounded. It wasn’t a tone Ianto heard from him often, and he couldn’t help grinning.  
  
“I’ll explain later,” he promised, relishing the chance to use those familiar words himself as he picked up his pace and began to run towards his teammates in earnest.  


* * *

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.  
  
This story archived at <http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=20401>


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